A campaign against the Netflix movie "Mary" has currently been unleashed on social networks, due to the fact that both the lead role and the role of Joseph are played by young Jewish actors, Noa Cohen and Ido Tako, who share the screen with the famous British actor Anthony Hopkins, who plays King Herod.
Critics accuse the filmmakers of ignoring the "Palestinian identity" of Jesus' parents. They consider it particularly outrageous in the context of the Israeli forces' offensive in the Gaza Strip, launched however after the killing of 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 hostages by Hamas terrorists.
"It is deeply offensive that an Israeli actress is playing Mary, the mother of Jesus, while Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, killing some of the oldest Christian communities in the world and destroying their cultural monuments," reads one post. "Netflix thought it would be a good idea to cast an [Israeli] to portray Mother Mary while they bomb the homeland of Jesus and all the churches," criticizes another user. Another comment is even harsher: "A movie about a Palestinian woman played by actors from the settler state currently committing mass murder of Palestinian women. What disgusting audacity." Israel firmly rejects all accusations of genocide.
The keys to the Bible
But is it true that Mary and Joseph were Palestinians? The invocation "Queen of Palestine", for example, may contribute to some confusion: the Order of the Holy Sepulchre celebrates the feast of "Our Lady, Queen of Palestine" on October 25, as indicated in the liturgical calendar of the Latin Patriarchate. Mary was mentioned for the first time with this title by Patriarch Luigi Barlassina (1920-1947) on the occasion of his solemn entry into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the consecration of the diocese to Mary, on July 15, 1920.
However, the name "Palestine" does not appear in the Gospels. Herod is referred to as the "king of Judea" (Luke 1:5). Bethlehem is in "Judean" territory: "Joseph also departed from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, into the land of Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David" (Luke 2:4). Pilate had the inscription "I.N.R.I." placed on the cross in Hebrew, Greek and Latin: Jesus as "Rex Judaeorum" (King of the Jews).
The land "between the river and the sea" claimed by the Palestinians today, the area west of the Jordan River, was known as the "Land of Canaan" before the Israelites immigrated. Moreover, the peoples living there did not form a political unit, but were organized into city-states that acted independently. After Joshua's conquest of the land, it became known as the "Land of Israel," a name that is also used in the New Testament, although at that time it was a province of the Roman Empire.
Whether the name "Palestine" comes from the "Philistines" - as Flavius Josephus writes - or whether Herodotus (died around 425 B.C.) used the term, this name was not known or was not in common use in Roman-biblical times; that is, during the lifetime of Mary and Joseph. After the death of Herod "the Great" in 4 B.C., his kingdom was divided. In Jesus' time, the region was a Roman province called Judea, administered by a government official, including Pontius Pilate.
Only after the Jewish revolt of Bar Kochba in 132-135 AD under Hadrian, when the Philistine people had already disappeared, the emperor changed the name "Judea" to "Palestine" (actually "Syria Palestine"), as a sign of his anti-Jewish policy to assimilate the Jews into the Roman Empire. However, since Roman times, the name no longer has any political significance. There is no historical nation with this name. For centuries, "Palestine" was used as a geographical term without clear borders. It was also called "Surya al-Janubiyya" (Southern Syria) because it was part of geographical Syria, as explained by the Palestinian scholar Muhammad Y. Muslih in "The Origins of Palestinian Nationalism". Until World War I, the area belonged to the Ottoman Empire and was divided into several provinces and governorates. It never formed an administrative unit.
"Maria" film director D.J. Caruso did not comment directly on the debate, but was pragmatic, telling Entertainment Weekly, "It was important to us that Maria, like most of our lead actors, be cast from actors in Israel to ensure authenticity."
